Daily Archives: November 19, 2012

Since having the pleasure of reviewing their first album Waterdog, rock band Feud has held a captivation for us ensuring a constant engagement with their fine release and earlier EP, Out From The Inside. So there was great anticipation and excitement when the band approached with a release of three new singles to check out. Released together mere days ago, the songs retain all the essences and qualities which make the band one of the more thrilling in the UK right now but elevates them into a stronger punching storm of muscular and infectious sounds. If you thought Feud could capture the imagination and heart with the best of them before they have returned to show previous outings were mere teasings and that now they have the ammunition to succumb any rock n roll heart.

Originally founded by South African brothers Greg (vocals/guitar) and Guy (drums/vocals) Combrinck, the band truly became a forceful entity with the relocation of the men to the UK and the joining up with Ian Harper (guitars/vocals) and Tom Syrett (bass/vocals). As well as the aforementioned acclaim releases the High Wycombe based quarter has matched the likes of Cancer Bats, Young Guns, Jettblack and Days In December whilst sharing stages with them, getting stronger and more inventive with every moment of their four years of existence. The band has always brewed a feisty mix of rock with heavy grunge essences and the new songs are no different though all explore new and even more incendiary aspects of their sound and songwriting making for three original and stirring slabs of essential music.

Floater opens with a crystalline tangle of sharply noted guitar coaxing, the lure an immediate tingle which takes one back initially to the likes of Mighty Lemon Drops and House Of Love. The track though as expected was not going to tenderly stroke the ear for long and soon brings in thumping rhythms and a delicious velvety deep bass sound. There is still a controlled restraint to the track even with its elevated pace and intensity but eventually it cannot stop fiery crescendos of sound and chorus from breaking out. It is a staggering track which plays like an emotive riot within the heart and raging fire in the ear brought from a union of Nirvana, Foo Fighters, and Sick Puppies. From the pulsating bass and incisive drums through to the enthralling melodic flames of guitars and vocals, the track is immense and declares alone that Feud is back, bigger and, better than ever.

With instantly infectious drums laying a hypnotic cage for an unleashing of its adrenaline soaked energy, Medicine stomps through the ear for a meaty thrill of punk n roll. With rampant intent and a Green Day like soaking of the ear, the track chews and romps with classy sonic enterprise and bruising urgency for an irresistible punk rock classic. Though the American trio is unmistakable as a spice to the song, there are elements which would grace any Stone Sour or Gruntruck track but distinct only to Feud and impossible not to devour with greed. Again every member of the band brings a contagious breath to their skilled and imaginative contributions, which only goes to make for a song which leaves the heart raging in ardour.

The final single is the less intense Miles Away, though that is in its attack and not passion, the heart of the song as insatiable and unrelenting as the other pair of triumphs. From another strolling start of rhythms and guitar behind the expressive vocals, the song hits its stride to create a furnace of scorching sonic riffing and barbed hungry hooks. With its arguably less tenacious assault the song offers a diversity of sound to the other two which touches on the likes of Seether, Stone Temple Pilots, and Bush. It is another tasty bite which enflames the appetite for much more from the band which will evolve into no doubt impatience the longer the wait for more new impressive tempests of excellence is.

If this foursome has yet to spark up your passion than any if not all of these wonderful singles will leave you a breathless and exhilarated bundle of fully satisfied energy. Feud creates high energy quality rock music and as Floater, Medicine, and Miles away show, this is a band which just get better and better.

Bringing a lively slice of melodic indie folk with a breath borne from the sixties, Delusions Of Grandeur, the new EP from UK band Storm & The Dales, makes for a release which fires up the imagination whilst unlocking a well of future promise. The five tracks which make up the release bring a strong variety to their imaginative presences and though some moments elevate to greater heights than others, the EP triggers good emotions and thoughts with accomplished ease.

Storm & The Dales is the solo project of Dublin based songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Dean Smyth, a musician who has reaped years of live music experience to bring a full and emotive depth to his songs. His experiences from a wealth of collaborations with other artists around the world has also added to and shaped his songwriting for a distinctive body to his music and lyrical creativity. The Delusions Of Grandeur EP is the perfect evidence, a collection of tracks which approach relationships lyrically and ideas musically with a shapely design to their essences.

The release opens with It’s Not Me It’s You and takes no time in holding the attention of ear and mind. The song has a distinct sixties swagger to its strong heart, the pop lightness a warm caress over the ear. The vocals of Smyth unveil the passionate tale with a delivery as emotive as the guitar play and easily outweigh the less than appealing harmonies which poke their noses in once or twice. It is a minor quibble in the context of the song their inadequacies lost in the shadow of the lean yet heated elegance of the track brought with a keen and expressive breath.

The good start is surpassed by the excellent Heart And Soul, a song which captures the imagination from its very first sweep of cymbal and contagious beats. Accompanied by a smouldering ambience to match the tender guitar, all the elements within the song combine to lay a shimmering haze of melodic seduction behind the again open vocals of Smyth, whilst the hypnotic teasing of the track breaks into moments of fiery imagination to leave extra psychedelic trails across its skies and deepen the enthralling engagement. It is a rewarding encounter rarely matched in the rest of the release.

The Boy Who Cried Wolf is a song which feels very familiar without arguably offering anything recognisable, though again the sixties whispers leads all thoughts. It is a more than decent song which leaves plenty of incentive to check out more of the melodic enterprise from the band whilst itself offering a pleasing engagement within the ear. The sharp guitar play is the highlight of the track whilst parts of the vocals harmonies again fall short of personal preferences but with no real damage to the appeal of the song.

The same cannot be said of Bad Little Girl, the one time the EP failed to ignite any real positivity. The song is an uncomplicated acoustic based slice of pop which recalls the likes of Herman’s Hermits to name one sixties band, but with its shallow production and depth as well as substance lacking vocals it just does not inspire any real reaction, something the impressive No Love does with skill and sure captivation. The closing track is a mesmeric slice of emotive grandeur big on atmosphere and passion. The dramatic piano expression evokes numerous thoughts and feelings whilst the unexpected sonic tinkering unbalances those mental assumptions and emotions wonderfully. It is a heavyweight song encapsulating the craft and distinct thought of the songwriting from Smyth and with Heart And Soul, surely is the direction the artist should pursue to greater acclaim and recognition such their power and craft.

Delusions Of Grandeur though not without a few flaws, is a release which engages the senses and future expectations with strength and imaginative style. The production could have been better to beef up the less powerful parts and further spark passion for those that work very well, but for the main the songs elevate themselves beyond their limitations to declare Storm & The Dales as a project to follow keenly and closely.

With the world wide release of their debut album Murderer last year, Danish death metallers Deus Otiosus left one of the biggest impressions and most rewarding confrontations of 2011, their old school inspired yet strikingly inventive sounds firing up the passions whilst marking the band as one of the most refreshing and promising emerging forces within extreme metal. The quintet from Copenhagen now returns with second album Godless, a release which actually puts its impressive predecessor in the shade whilst revealing the band as an even mightier and creative proposition. The new album is a colossal beast of imagination and aggressive engagement, a record bulging with incendiary sonics and melodic enterprise alongside thunderous riffs and debilitating grooves.

Started by vocalist Anders Bo Rasmussen and guitarist Henrik Engkjær in 2005, Deus Otiosus grabbed positive attention with their 2007 demo Death Lives Again and a split release with Hideous Invasion two years later, but it was with the release of Murderer in South America in 2010 and especially its world release via FDA Rekotz the next year, that the band ignited an intense positivity and acclaim towards their uncompromising aural attack. Godless takes everything to a new level, the songwriting, imaginative enterprise, and the intrusive thrilling sounds. Out through Deepsend Records, the album unleashes eight brutal tracks which numb and invigorate which equal success. Themed by the premise of the world devoid of gods or presences to guide the human race thus leaving it ‘to fend for itself like feral children’, the album is a crashing expanse of old school death metal skewered with veins of thrash and black metal and loud melodic whispers.

As soon as the opener Snakes of the Low thunders in with merciless rhythms, driving riffs, and an acute twisting groove, there is an immediate sense of the growth from previous releases, the immense start that strong and impactful. The guitars of Henrik Engkjær and Peter Engkjær rage with a furnace of sonic manipulations and bone crushing intensity whilst bassist Jesper Holst roams with a rabid hunger to his lines. The staggering onslaught leaves one breathless with the drums of new drummer Jesper Olsen leading the assault with unbridled energy and stunning craft. The result is a contagion which swamps the senses and ignites the passions whilst with the inciting heavy guttural tones of Rasmussen leaves thoughts open to the darkest shadows.

Off to a towering start the album steps up another level with the excellent In Harm’s Way. Starting with a catchy tease of drums the track strolls with an incessant breath of anthemic unity and pulsating resonating energy. Riffs and rhythms hold a constant urgent charge whilst the vocals snarl at the ear with a malevolent hunger whilst the sonic scorching lights up the song with caustic flames of invention. It is an insatiable riot setting up a strong and pleasing contrast to its successor, the doom clad prowling beast New Dawn. Oppressive with an intensity which looms over the senses without quite devouring them, the track crowds the ear with its weighty presence to allow its restrained but ever shifting twists of ideas to open a stream of great satisfaction.

Throughout Godless is unrelenting in offering irresistible invention and fiery imagination, further tracks such as the astringent and ravenous Pest Grave as well as Cast From Heaven with its burning abrasive consumption of the synapses and the openly infectious Face The Enemy leaving awe struck ardour and unbridled enthusiasm in their wake. The latter of the three is a maelstrom of multi-faceted sounds and invention which flow and tease as if borne from the same original seed of inspiration.

Closing on the delicious irreverent waltz of Death Dance, an apocalyptic beauty in sound and atmosphere, the album is just outstanding and a release which easily rivals the best extreme genre releases this year. If bands like Obituary, Autopsy, Entombed, and Sepultura raise your temperature, than Deus Otiosus and Godless will break you out in an eager sweat.

The RingMaster Review

The RingMaster

Music writer/reviewer and band/release promo/bio writer.
Artists previously worked with include: In Vain, The Capsules, Solar Halos, Seneron, Crashgate, Able Archer, Machine Rox, Fahran, Centre Excuse, Evanstar, and many more as well as FRUK and Pluggin' Baby.

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Presenter of The Bone Orchard and RingMaster Review podcasts promoting the best underground bands and sounds from metal to rock, punk to noise and more; continually presenting the cream of new independent releases across all genres.

Dark poet at The Carnivale of Dark Words and Shadows http://carnivaleofdarkwordsandshadows.webs.com

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